Mars rover harangues empty landscape with loudhailer

Audio Curiosity, the nuclear-powered laser raygun rover recently landed on the surface of Mars by NASA, has begun shouting propaganda messages from Earth at the apparently empty desert which it is currently patrolling.

A speaker on the car-sized robotic vehicle was used to issue a message from NASA chief Charles Bolden, a former US Marine general and shuttle astronaut, highlights of which we reproduce here:

Hello. This is Charlie Bolden, NASA Administrator, speaking to you via the broadcast capabilities of the Curiosity Rover ...

Since the beginning of time, humankind’s curiosity has led us to constantly seek new life … new possibilities just beyond the horizon ...

The knowledge we hope to gain from our observation and analysis of Gale Crater, will tell us much about the possibility of life on Mars ... Curiosity will bring benefits to Earth ... as it prepares the way for a human mission in the not too distant future.

Thank you.

The robotic harangue was re-transmitted back to Earth, and can be heard in its entirety (accompanied by a full transcript) courtesy of NASA here.

New telephoto imagery of the barren landscape surrounding the rover has also been issued by the US space agency, appearing to confirm that nobody was in the vicinity to hear Bolden's chilling warning of imminent Earthling invasion. ®